Preludium To Madness
by x-akurei
Summary: Lonesome and with ever the feeling of being trapped by her responsibility to help her brother, Erin is subject to her mind's wicked tricks. It's unnatural, she knows, to crave the company of a creature that could easily murder her...
1. Preludium

With the re-appearance of the series on our television screens, it was only a matter of time before I was hooked again!

****Disclaimer:** **I don't own any of the characters, nor am I making a profit from this.

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><p><em><span>Erin<span>_

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><p>When you wake in the night to what you think is a warm breath ghosting over your face and neck, only to open your eyes to discover that no one is there, do you consider it to be a blessing or a curse? Would you rather feel the scorching lips of a Devil as they tear and break your skin, or the stillness of the unbroken, cold air that hangs around you in the pitch black of night?<p>

You always thought that you knew the answers to these questions. Now, as you warily lay your head back against your pillow, telling yourself that you merely imagined the sensation, you aren't so sure.

How is it possible for you to be so mortally afraid of something, yet desire it so much as well? All you want, you've told yourself, is to have the Dracula's slain and then get out, back to your brother, because he's family and _that _is what's _most important_. Your sub-consciousness thinks otherwise, however. Even in the depths of your dream world, you're still incredibly lonely. It's the third time, now, that you've woken up thinking that someone is standing over you, and it's the third time that you've cursed yourself for silently wishing that it was Vlad. The worst part: he could do anything, and you wouldn't care, so long as he stayed with you for a little while.

Presently, you come to realise that the fabric beneath your cheek is damp. Your forehead and upper lip still hold sweat, but your eyes are swimming with tears too so you can't tell what's what. Oh, if only you'd stop feeling so sorry for yourself!

You turn over uncomfortably. Every sound elsewhere in the place sets you on edge, you still stare blindly into the darkness. Before you're unable to stop it, a strangled sob slips past your lips. Sleeping in a coffin feels like being sent prematurely to your grave, and so does slinking in the shadows of the Dracula's every day, just waiting, waiting, waiting for the right moment. That's why you wish you could tell Vlad, although tell him what you're not quite sure of. But you think that he'd understand. You _hope_ that he'd understand.

It takes a little time but eventually you drift back off to sleep. The shadows are deeper, your dreams darker. Your unconscious mind still pricks at you - _open your eyes again, go on, open them! _But if you did, you have no doubt as to what you would see: against the deep purple velvet of the lid of your coffin, leaning over you, a cloaked figure with a painted face, crimson mouth and devil horns; and then sprouting like some grotesque deformity from the creature's crooked back, are beautiful, unfolding white feather wings. The realisation that, to you, Vlad is a saviour in disguise, sickens you once again from sleep.

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><p><strong>- x-akurei<strong>


	2. Epilogue

For anyone who was wondering, this whole thing is supposed to be set just after Episode 4, when Vlad is still blissfully unaware that Erin is human...  
>I decided to write more because - well, I got lovely reviews and a number of people added it to their Story Alerts. So thank you all!<p>

****Disclaimer:**** I don't own any of the characters, nor am I making a profit from this.

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><p><em><span>Vlad<span>_

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><p>Erin's dreaming again, you can feel it. You're not entirely sure as to how that is, or why, but you can.<p>

She's restless, and moving around in her sleep, as usual. Lying there in the dark, you imagine that you can see her eyelids fluttering repetitively as the blurred images flash by in front of her. And it makes you wonder just a little.

What _does_ she dream of?

You're quite sure that it's nothing pleasant, for you can't help but feel a slight discomfort whenever this strange sensation starts to reach you. You can't even describe it. You just… find suddenly that you're awake again, for no reason, and that there's something that tugs in the back of your mind that reminds you of Erin and of Erin alone. It's almost as if you can sense her emotions, flooding through the stony walls and the wood of both your coffins. They aren't enjoyable dreams, and in them Erin isn't anybody's saviour. Unlike your dreams, you think, unlike you.

_Shut up, Vlad, _you tell yourself sternly.

These peculiar, nightly occurrences have been happening ever since the Half-fang arrived. That's why you're now absolutely sure that it's Erin you're picking up on, as well as the fact that the sensation just _feels _like her. You've considered telling Bertrand about it all - but then, on second thoughts, decided against it completely. Afterall, there's something you like about it, being able to tell when the girl is dreaming. It's not your private business, as such, but it feels that way. You like to keep it a secret. And anyway, even if Erin's dreams are not always pleasant, you can still conjure up the idea in your head that in fact, you're wrong, and she's actually thinking of something else... Say, perhaps, _you_. It's selfish, you know, to take this form of subtle pleasure from her nightmares, but what else is there to do?

In all honesty, you should tell Erin.

You frown at your own thoughts. Shifting your shoulders to get into a more comfortable position, you try to focus on the delicate wave of dreams that are passing through the walls. Erin would never be able to understand. Fascinated by her as you are, you still can't deny, she is just a newly-bitten Half-fang at the end of the day, with about as much true knowledge of vampire livelihood as Robin when he first appeared on the scene those few years ago.

Thinking back, it seems like almost an age since you first came to Britain…

_Where is Robin now?_, you wonder.

The thin trail of dreams suddenly cuts off, bringing you back from your reverie. Frustrated for having lost it, you try in vain to try to pick it back up for a moment or two, but you are clutching at straws. Perhaps Erin has woken up. That usually happens after a short while; you guessed it correctly the last time, and she had told you so herself…

"_Did you sleep well?"_

_She had looked up at you from her breakfast with an almost startled expression - she didn't trust you completely, although you had been so kind thus far and would continue to be so. "I've never woken so many times in my life." she had replied warily._

_You weren't sure whether she inexplicably blamed you for this._

That first day she had been sneaking around like a cat, always on guard, jumpy, quick to turn at the smallest sound. Happily, your friendship with her has grown a little now, and she has relaxed around the family to a brief extent. Not Bertrand, though. She still gives him a wide birth for the most part, and you have the slight suspicion that he isn't too fond of her either…

Your mind lapses into a silence. You seem only to be staring at the dark lid of your coffin for a minute or two before your eyes start to droop again, and you find yourself slipping quietly back to sleep with peacefully uninterrupted thoughts. You dream, and you are a hero. A _saviour_. And you want to rescue Erin as she sleeps, fretting in her coffin with terrible dreams. Perhaps you have wings, white and feathery, like an angel's. Perhaps Erin would like that.

_Let her be soothed, _you are thinking as your sub-consciousness reaches to her. _Let her sleep._

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><p><strong>- x-akurei<strong>


End file.
